Dudley neighbors fight proposed zip line park on 41 acres

Wednesday

Jan 1, 2014 at 6:42 PMJan 1, 2014 at 9:47 PM

By Brian Lee TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

DUDLEY — Dozens of residents, citing noise, traffic, environmental issues and a decline in property values, among other concerns, are lining up to try to stop a plan to build a zip line park on a 41-plus acre parcel at Dresser Hill and Dudley-Southbridge roads.

The Zoning Board of Appeals is to meet Thursday night to consider a request for a special permit to construct an "outdoor aerial adventure park" in the residential neighborhood. The meeting will begin at 7:45 p.m. at Town Hall.

Attempts to reach the applicant, Christine Hawley, were unsuccessful this week.

The proposed park has frontage on 115 Dudley-Southbridge Road. The plan calls for access to the 41.69-acre parcel via an access easement owned by Carol C. Antos over the historic Stagecoach Road that runs through the property of Thomas and Linda Yacuzzi at 215 Dresser Hill Road.

The Yacuzzis are one of 16 abutters. The Keekamoochaug/Tufts Branch Wildlife Sanctuary is also among the abutters.

The board of directors of the Dudley Conservation Land Trust wrote to the ZBA saying the trust prefers that the park, where visitors can use pulleys to ride elevated cables and ropes from tree to tree, not be built at the proposed site.

"We consider the undeveloped Antos land some of the most important land in town for conservation purposes, based on its proximity to nearly 644 acres of protected land, the natural beauty of the location, and the abundance and variety of flora and fauna in the area," the land trust's letter says.

It said "Hawley Adventure Park" would sit on 10 acres as an aerial forest challenge park consisting of more than 50 platforms installed in trees and connected by various configurations of cable, wood, rope and zip lines to form bridges.

The park would be certified to the standards of the Association for Challenge Course Technology and would meet the safety standards required by the state Department of Public Safety, the proposal said.

It would be designed to cater to participants of all skill levels, for children as young as 7 to senior citizens, the plan said.

Participants must weigh less than 265 pounds, and the suggested minimum height is 48 inches for ropes courses and zip line, the plan said.

Tickets, valid for three hours, would be $45 for adults and $39 for children, with no charge for visitors who come to watch their friends and family from the ground.

The aerial park would be built on the west side of the Antos Farm property, the proposal said.

Mr. Yacuzzi spoke briefly in opposition at the Dec. 16 selectmen's meeting, but he was told the board did not have authority over the proposal.

"I want to be very careful to everyone involved that it's given its due process before we give any indication that we are in favor or opposed," Selectman Jonathan Ruda, the board's chairman, said.

Town Planner Nancy Runkle said the Planning Board isn't involved because it is a use permitted by right.

Opponents said they don't want any type of commercial operation in the area.

A letter from Linda and Michael Branniff said one of the great attractions to Dudley for prospective residents is the "pastoral and scenic quality" of many of its residential areas.

Partly based on reassurances offered by the zoning regulation, many people built large, expensive homes in the area in question, he said. These homes would become less desirable and their values would decrease if the business was allowed, the Branniffs said.

The intersection, the couple said, is not currently in a condition to support the heavier traffic that the project would bring.

Another abutter and letter-writer, Kenneth F. and Nancy Candito, said their 11-acre property shares a border with the Antos property.

The Canditos said paving over Stagecoach Road, as the plans calls for, would be a shame because the road is an integral part of Dudley's history.

Another couple, Liza and Michael Moran of Partridge Hill Road, said they researched an aerial theme park in Storrs, Conn., that differs because it is on a major highway near an interstate, with several commercial businesses nearby.

About 60 concerned neighbors met Dec. 11 at a local church to discuss the proposal.

By submitting the proposal to the town in November, Mrs. Yacuzzi told a reporter, the applicant perhaps thought that it wouldn't give the neighbors time to do research on other places.

"We were able to research it and realize how noisy these places are," her husband said.

Ms. Antos could not be reached for comment.

Zip lining made news last week after a tree fell on a 10-year-old boy in Easton during a zip lining accident, leaving the boy in critical condition. The zip line was on the property of the Hanover boy's aunt and uncle. One of the trees it was anchored to snapped and landed on the boy's back.

Contact Brian Lee at brian.lee@telegram.com

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